ABCDE SPORTS tuesday, june 15, 2010 GOLF


‘There’s a lot of fear’ Erik Compton, who is playing in this year’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, has undergone two heart transplants. D3


COLLEGES Texas hold ’em


The Longhorns will remain part of the Big 12 Conference. D3


BLOGS, MULTIMEDIA AND CHATS washingtonpost.com/sports


First Things First Today, 9:30 a.m. Tracee Hamilton returns, and hears there’s a new pitcher in town. World Cup 2010Stay up-to-date with the latest video available from the action in South Africa. Nationals & MLBCheck out all the news and notes, including the Orioles’ late game from San Francisco.


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An uphill road to college


D.C. public school students struggle to meet NCAA standards to play sports


by Alan Goldenbach


From the moment she scored 31 points as a freshman in the D.C. In- terscholastic Athletic Association championship game, it was evident Ronika Ransford had the skills to play college basketball at a top level. Sure enough, the H.D. Woodson star signed a letter-of-intent in November with Southeastern Conference power Georgia before she concluded her high school career in the McDonald’s all-American game in April.


42 Ransford’s


Percentage of D.C. public school athletes


(25 of 60) who signed Division I scholarship papers in football or basketball since 2004 and failed to qualify for college.


SOURCE: NCAA’S LETTER OF INTENT OFFICE


journey to Geor- gia, however, nearly went off track. Like many standout athletes from D.C. Public Schools, she struggled to satis- fy NCAA initial eligibility stan- dards. It was not until midway through her sen- ior year that she learned she was not going to ful-


fill the NCAA’s minimum 16 core high school curriculum courses, according to Ranford and her father, George. They each said her freshman year English class — which she passed and put her on track to earn a D.C. Public Schools diploma — was not certified as a core course because the NCAA told them it was not rigorous enough and lacked the proper coding within the NCAA’s database of qualified courses.


Ransford, who graduated last week, took an online correspondence course this spring to earn the credit and plans to enroll at Georgia later this month. “Just because you’re clear with D.C.


doesn’t mean you’re clear with the NCAA,” Ransford said. In nearly three dozen interviews,


athletes, parents, coaches, guidance counselors and school administra- tors identified four primary areas of concern that they said are hurting student-athletes in the D.C. public school system who aspire to play their sport in college: outdated grad- uation requirements; inadequate standardized-test preparation; a lack of understanding of NCAA require- ments by guidance counselors; and loopholes in athletic eligibility stan- dards that allow students to stay eli- gible for sports but ultimately come up short of NCAA standards. “You get all this hoopla about a kid signing somewhere, but how many of them get there?” Dunbar athletic di- rector and boys’ basketball coach Johnnie Walker said. “Where are these kids when [high school] is


eligibility continued on D3 COLLEGE BASEBALL


U-Va. eliminated Oklahoma routs the Cavaliers, 11-0, to win the super regional and advance to the College World Series in Omaha. D4


It happens at every World Cup with regard to the ball. It happens every World Cup with regard to the surface.” Alexi Lalas, on the players’ whining in South Africa. A1


Nationals discover star power


Strasburg phenomenon puts once-mocked franchise in big league spotlight


by Adam Kilgore JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST


With Stephen Strasburg’s major league career less than a week old, Cleveland souvenir shops had his jerseys on hand before his start Sunday at Progressive Field.


cleveland — Once cast aside by na- tional media and fans, the Washington Nationals, because of Stephen Stras- burg’s expectation-defying first two starts, have become an attraction. The Nationals asserted their competence even before Strasburg’s breathlessly awaited call-up. His arrival and the sub- sequent crush of widespread attention have made the sports world take notice. “It kind of puts into focus the other


really good players that we have,” Gener- al Manager Mike Rizzo said. “The atten- tion on his national stage gives every- body a bigger platform to shine. We think we have a good product, a lot of good sto- ries, good personalities on the team. If it takes Stephen to bring it into the nation- al focus, then I’m fine with that.” Their ascension in cachet seems sud- den, but “it wasn’t overnight,” team President Stan Kasten said. The Nation- als endured two seasons of either being overlooked or worse. Over the past two seasons, the Nationals played on nation- al television five times — twice against the Phillies during Philadelphia’s late- season playoff push, once as Randy John- son pitched for his 300th win. Their losing pushed people away and became the butt of jokes, which the Na-


tionals’ hovering around .500 this season did not put an end to entirely. During the opening moments of Strasburg’s debut, comedian Seth Meyers joked on his Twit- ter account, “Washington has a baseball team? When did this happen?” When the night ended, Meyers wrote,


“I’m jealous of Nats fans. This is incred- ible.” In Strasburg’s first road start Sunday,


the Indians drew more than 32,000 fans, double their season average. Strasburg’s first two starts were broadcast on nation- al television, and MLB Network will air his third. Fox chose to schedule this Sat- urday’s Nationals-White Sox game for telecast merely hoping Strasburg would pitch.


nationals continued on D4 D S


NBA Finals Game 6


Boston at Los Angeles Lakers, 9 p.m. TV: WJLA-7, WMAR-2. Celtics lead series, 3-2


Celtics head West in control


RONALD MARTINEZ / GETTY IMAGES Kobe Bryant’s team is in danger of losing in the Finals for a 2nd time in three years.


Lakers are teetering on the brink of disaster


A los angeles


nything with this much drama needs to be played out in Hollywood, so Lakers-Celtics


resumes exactly where it ought to . . . with greater Los Angeles freaking out, with Kobe Bryant saying his team’s defense is so MIA it belongs “on a milk carton the last two games,” with the Lakers’ shot selection totally out-of-whack, with the Celtics defense laying the wood, with Coach Phil Jackson trying to motivate his Lakers by reminding them how many regular season leads the Celtics choked on, and perhaps most surprisingly with Coach Doc Rivers taking it to the Zen Master for the second straight time in the NBA Finals. The Boston Celtics aren’t just up


3-2 , they’re in control of the Finals, one victory away from a second championship in three years and one


MICHAEL WILBON


victory away from beating the Lakers to do it, which is pretty much how the Celtics built their history. Once again, the Celtics are pushing the Lakers around, laughing off the notions of old age and that Kobe Bryant can single-handedly beat them with prolific scoring outbursts. One Lakers victory at home, where


they will be favored to win Tuesday night in Game 6, will put them back in the driver’s seat. But that one victory suddenly seems like a lot to


wilbon continued on D5


MICHAEL DWYER/ASSOCIATED PRESS Boston’s Paul Pierce has two chances to win the title in Los Angeles, his home town.


Another series, another chance for the Celtics to oust a superstar-led squad from the playoffs using teamwork


by Michael Lee


boston—Paul Pierce walked off the court on Sunday surrounded by tele- vision cameras and serenaded by rau- cous Boston Celtics fans chanting his nickname: “Truth!” The veteran for- ward lifted his index finger and shouted back, “One more, baby. Just one more.” He boarded a plane at an airport in Bedford, Mass., the next morning, wearing a backwards, white Red Sox cap and raising his arms to more adoring fans, knowing that he would land in Los Angeles in about five hours with a chance to become the ul- timate sports villain in his home town. With the Celtics up 3-2 over the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Fi- nals, the kid who grew up just blocks from the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., where the Showtime Los Angeles Lakers ran fast breaks into his heart,


stood one more win from delivering an 18th title for the hated rival. “It’s going to have to happen, if


we’re going to win the title,” Pierce said of the Celtics closing out the se- ries in Los Angeles, after scoring a team-high 27 points in a 92-86 victo- ry at TD Garden. “I mean, that would be great. I’m not going to jinx it right now. We’ve got to win one more game, that’s the goal. But it would be amazing if we get it done.” Amazing is an appropriate ad-


jective, considering that a Celtics vic- tory in Game 6 on Tuesday — or pos- sibly Game 7 on Thursday — would conclude one of the more difficult postseason runs in NBA history, with Boston knocking off the three top seeds in the league without posses-


nba finals continued on D5


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